Uniko - Sneak Peeks 1 ....

.... Hello, and good morning! I do hope that everyone is keeping well in this very busy month. Uniko is finishing this year with a super fun release with some lovely spring flowers and great stencils. We're going to start of with our usual sneak peeks:

I really like this spring flower, so delicate, so pretty! It's sure to be a favourite.

I think you can guess what this is - I can see such fun backgrounds!!

Three different stencil designs - I can't wait to get my hands on them! I say that because I'm still waiting for my stamps and stencils to arrive. Posting product to the States is mostly good, but it's coming up to Christmas and I guess the system is under a bit of pressure! I'm still hoping that parcel Bev sent a while ago will get here so that I can make some samples for the Introductions and Release. Here's the schedule:

Sneak Peeks: 10th & 11th December - just to tease you!

Introductions: 12th - 15th December - a first chance to see the new release in action.

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 16th December, 9.00am.  The stamps and stencils will be available in the Uniko shop to purchase and, as usual, we will have a Design Team Blog Hop.

That's all from me today, but do stop by again tomorrow for a few more sneak peeks!

Warm Winter Wishes ....

..... Hello! It's really wintery here today - we had our first proper snowfall this morning with about an inch falling and more expected tonight, so it's the perfect excuse to stay in and play!! I made a card for the Winter Coffee Lovers Challenge - WCLC17:

Stamps: Pink & Main Christmas Mugs; Uniko - Simply Said Christmas; Hero Arts - Holiday Florals Bold Prints
Inks: Gina K - Sweet Mango; Stampin' Up! - Cajun Craze; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Pink & Main - Christmas Mugs; Die-namics - Zig Zag Stitched Oval Stax #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Peekaboo Peach; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gems; Clear Embossing Powder

I was watching a video by Jennifer McGuire recently that showed cute Christmas mugs - and this morning I stamped and coloured all of them. I made the card above using the fun orange mug - it's not at all traditional!!! 😊

I based the card layout on the sketch part of the current Fusion Challenge - FUSION#88. I stamped the mug in my MISTI, coloured it with Copics, put it back in the MISTI, restamped in Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder. Then I cut it out with the coordinating die. I stamped the background image in a soft peach and added a couple of strips of peach card. I coloured some scrap card with Copics to make the oval mat. I finished the front of the card by adding a simple Christmas greeting, some gems and lots of sparkle to the mug. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of peach card and added a greeting and another mug to the white panel.

I took a close-up photo of the mug to show all the pretty sparkle:

I posted all my overseas Christmas cards on Thursday but ran out of cards for my American friends, so I'm going to be busy this weekend making some more cards! I think there might be a few that feature these lovely Christmas mugs!!

That's all for now - I'm off back to my craft room to play. If you have to be out and about in all the snow (here and in the UK) be safe! See you soon.

Uniko Challenge Reminder - Christmas ....

..... Hello and good morning! According to the United States Postal Service the last posting date for Christmas first class to Europe and the UK was yesterday - 7th December!!!  Good thing I made this card a while ago and it's in the post then :) I'm here this morning with a reminder card for our current challenge at Uniko - US#44 - we want to see Christmas cards.

Stamps: Uniko - Peace on Earth, Most Wonderful, Festive Sentiments, Reach for the Stars
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Black Onyx, Christmas Pine; Delicata -Silvery Shimmer
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Ovals #3, Cross Stitched Oval Stax #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card -Smoky Slate; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

I kept this card really simple to focus on the pretty dove. I die cut white card to create the oval frame and adhered it flat to the card base. I added lots of sparkles all over it with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I stamped the dove on white card with a pale grey ink, coloured it with Copics, put it back in the MISTI and restamped in Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder. I carefully cut out the dove. I stamped the leaf on the white oval and adhered the dove on top, I used some dimensional pads on the wings to give the bird some real dimension. I adhered the oval to the card with dimensional tape. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of pale grey card and added a greeting and some stars to the white panel.

I based the layout of this card on a sketch from Christmas Card Throwdown - CCT#21.

Don't forget to visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the design team. That's all from me for now. Bye!

Mixed Media .....

.... Hi! Hope you're all having a good week, it's been lovely here in Northville, in fact, it was really warm yesterday and didn't feel much like autumn!! I don't have a card for you today, I've got a page from my small Dylusions journal. After Dyan came to our local craft shop, Scrappy Chic, two years ago, those of us who attended her classes set up an Art Journal club. We're called the Scrappy Chic Kitchen Roll Sprayers Art Journal Club and we still meet on the last Sunday of each month. Last Sunday the challenge was to create a Christmas something - tag, page, card, etc. I thought it was time to create a page instead of just making backgrounds!!!

Stamps: Dylusions - Christmas Backgrounds, Bordering on the Edge, Christmas Words
Inks/Paints: Dylusions Paints - Polished Jade, Cut Grass; Distress Ink - Pine Needles; Archival Ink - Paradise Teal
Accessories: Dylusions Small Journal; Dylusions Holiday Colouring Sheets; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Sakura Stardust Pens; Stencils; Wink of Stella - Clear; Ranger - Collage Glue Stick; Stabilo - Black Watercolour pencil

I used a background that I made ages ago using the baby wipe technique and I'm fairly sure that the colours I used were Polished Jade, Cut Grass and Lemon Zest (although you can't see much of the lemon). I added a simple border and some holly using a stencil and stamp. These fun Santa characters come from the Holiday Colouring Sheets booklet. I used Zig brushes to colour them and then carefully cut them out along with the ornament and fir branch border. I used the collage glue stick to adhere the images to the page. I drew around all the images with a black watercolour pencil and smudged it out with a water brush. I added lots of sparkle to the beards with a clear Wink of Stella brush and finished the page with a simple Christmas greeting. It was such fun making this page. I'm going to submit it to the following challenges:

• Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - SSWC2911 - Anything Goes
• Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#16 - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - HLSXMAS#11 - Anything Goes

You can see all the sparkle on the beards in the detail photo above. I really must create more finished pages - it really is lots of fun. That's all for now. See you again soon.

New Calendars .....

..... Hi! Good morning. We've really been enjoying our holiday weekend - all very relaxed. I had a fun time in my craft room yesterday afternoon - I made some calendars for next year. They are really easy to make. I did ten in all:

Stamps: Visible Image - Somewhere in Time, Ahead of our Time, Rays of Light
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate, Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Emerald Envy; Gina K - Passionate Pink, Cherry Red, Sweet Mango, Jelly Bean Green, Blue Lagoon, Blue Raspberry, Wild Lilac
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vippies Designs - Large Self Adhesive Calendar Pads

To make the calendar you cut a panel of white card 11½" x 4¼" - basically cut a sheet of letter size paper in half vertically. Score across the centre at 5½" and fold. Next cut a panel of card 5" x 4¼", this should be scored at 1", 2½", and 4". Fold at the centre and crease into place, and crease the other two folds in the opposite direction - you should end up with a piece of card in the shape of a W.

On the large folded card stamp your design. I decided to use these wonderful time-related images - so appropriate for a calendar. I used my MISTI to stamp the images - it was so quick and I was able to restamp any images that needed extra pressure! Once I'd finished all the stamping, I added tape to the outside flaps of the "W" card and adhered them to the inside of each printed card. I finished each calendar by adding the calendar pad. Here's a close up of two of the calendars:

I have kept two of the calendars - one for my craft room and one for my office desk. The rest are going to be sent to family and friends. I'm entering these calendars into the November challenge at Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#16, where anything goes.

I've got a really fun day planned for the last day of our holiday. This afternoon I'm off to my local craft shop - Scrappy Chic - for some art journaling fun, and then in the evening Jonathan and I are off to Royal Oak to see Squeeze! So excited. That's all for now. See you soon.

Peace and Joy ...

.... Morning! It's Black Friday here in the States, and I see is making its way to the UK too. I've had a look at some of the many crafty sales and so far I've been good!! But I may sneak back in a while and place an order, or two!! I started today off with a long walk around our sub-division - it's a gorgeous morning with blue skies, bright sunshine and no wind, which means it's merely cold and not freezing!! In my earlier post I said that I got to spend quite some time in my craft room yesterday afternoon and I made another Christmas card for my stash:

Stamps: Altenew - Bells & Bows, Beautiful Inside; Lawn Fawn - Snowy Backdrops
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx; Delicata - Silvery Shimmer; Memento - London Fog, Grey Flannel
Dies: Die-namics - Squares Set 1 #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Vellum; Gems

 I combined a few challenges on this card:

• Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#124 - where they want to see BOWS
• Inkspirational - INK#148 - where they want to see Christmas cards in only neutral colours
• Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#166 - sketch

I've had this Altenew Bells & Bow set for a while and this is the first time I've used it. To create this lovely bow it takes four stamps and it really helps to have a MISTI (or something similar). However, it is very easy to line up the stamps. I used a shimmery ink for the base layer and I think the bows look almost metallic! After stamping, I carefully cut them all out and layered them on small black squares. I stamped a simple snowy panel behind the squares and finished the front with a greeting layered on vellum and some square gems. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel added more snow and a simple Christmas greeting.

Not only was yesterday Thanksgiving, it was also the 54th anniversary of one our favourite family programmes - Dr Who. We had a viewing fest and for some reason, we picked the sad ones - the one where Rose 'dies', the one where Donna (my favourite) 'dies', and the one where Amy and Rory 'die'. There were many tears and lots of enjoyment! If you're a Dr Who fan, you'll enjoy the clip below which shows how the opening sequence of title and music has changed since 1963:

That's all for now - see you again soon. Have a great weekend.

Uniko Challenge - Christmas ....

... Hello! Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the States - Kat has a couple of days off school and Jonathan is off work - and we've had a very relaxing time. We went out to lunch at a local golf club, where the food is amazing, it was just super. And I got to spend some time playing in my craft room. It's time for our new challenge at Uniko and the theme is Christmas. I had fun making my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Jolly Christmas, Festive Sentiments, Most Wonderful, Reach for the Stars
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Cracked Pistachio, Lucky Clover, Evergreen Bough, Tumbled Glass, Wilted Violet
Dies: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Stitched Tags #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Emerald Envy; Uniko Stencils - Wonky Stripes, Scattered Polka Dots; Clear Embossing Powder; Copics; White Flock; Martha Stewart Coarse Crystal Glitter; Green Fibres

Plaids are very on-trend at the moment, so I decided to use the Wonky Stripes stencil to create my own fun plaid. I taped the stencil to the card and sponged on pale green ink, then I turned the stencil and repeated the process with a bold, bright green. I used my ordinary distress inks for this card. I stamped Santa on some scrap card, coloured him with Copics and put the image back in the MISTI, restamped in Versafine and embossed with clear powder and then carefully cut him out. I added some gold ink to the belt buckle, used white flock for his beard and coarse crystal glitter for the trimming on his clothes. I used a die to cut out the tag and sponged on some dots using a few shades of ink, stamped the greeting, attached Santa with some dimensional pads and finished the tag with some green fibres from my stash. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of green card and added a greeting to the white panel, along with some stars!

I'm submitting this card to Merry Monday - MM#266 where they want to see Santa, and also to Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media - HLSMM#11 where they want to see a tag.

Don't forget to visit the Uniko blog to check out more inspiring projects from the rest of the team. We are joined this month by Sue of Sue's Card Craft - her card is just fabulous! If you do decide to play along with our Christmas challenge there are prizes too:

• Main winner - picked by DT - £25 e-gift certificate
• Random Uniko stamps winner - £4 - in stock clear stamp set of winner choice
• Top 3 - chosen by DT - 150 loyalty reward points

You've got plenty of time to join in with us. Deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) Friday 29th December - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States.

It's Black Friday today and I plan to check out some of the many Crafty sales going on today! See you again soon.

25 Tags of Christmas ...

... Hi! It's day 21 of Tracey McNeeley's 25 Days of Christmas Tags and today Uniko is sponsoring the challenge. I've made some very simple, but fun Christmas tags:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Falling Snowflakes, Festive Sentiments, Most Wonderful, Peace on Earth
Inks: Versamark; Gina K - Black Onyx; Distress - Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire, Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, Lucky Clover, Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet Dusty Concord
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dotted Tags
Accessories: Strathmore Smooth Bristol Card; Ribbons; Clear Embossing Powder; Grey Mirri card

For this set of tags, I used my Lil Inker dotted dies to cut the card. I stamped the snowflakes on each tag in Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder. Then I coloured the tags with Distress inks to reveal the falling snow - I love this technique. There's a couple of tiny dies in the tag set that cut a hole in the tags and also cut out hole reinforcers - I used mirri card to create them. I finished the front of each tag with a simple greeting in black and a simple ribbon treatment. Here's a close up look at each tag:

Don't forget to visit Tracey's blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the Uniko design Team. This challenge runs throughout November and there are opportunities to win prizes. Full details of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge can be found on Tracey's blog here.

That's all from me today - see you again soon.